The future of a massive housing development on the southern edge of Worcester look likely to be decided by councillors from Malvern Hills District Council.

Planners and councillors at Wychavon District Council have already agreed to let the westernmost authority of the three make the decision on the application for outline planning permission to build more than 2,000 houses on fields south of Worcester and north of Kempsey.

A report to Worcester City council’s planning committee which meets on Thursday has recommended that the city authority does the same.

It says: “This is a cross boundary application that was submitted to all three South Worcestershire Councils in 2013

“The majority of the application site lies within the administrative boundary of Malvern Hills District Council with the exception of small areas of land falling within Worcester City and Wychavon District’s.”

The two councillors representing Kempsey on Malvern Hill’s district council, David Harrison and John Michael both sit on the authority’s Northern Area Planning Committee which will meet to decide the application on March 7.

Both are unable to comment on the plan because they sit on the committee.

The report to Worcester’s committee says it should delegate powers to Malvern Hill unless there are substantial changes to the plan.

And the report by planners at Malvern recommends that councillors approve the scheme put forward by Wellbeck Strategic Land next month.

The response from Kempsey Parish Council objects to the development but add that it expects it to get approval.

The parish council said: “Stopping traffic on the A38 could cause flow problems at the Ketch roundabout. We have grave concerns about the pinch point caused by the lack of a dualled river crossing.

“Virtually all of the development site is surrounded by green buffer zones, but strangely some areas have been totally ignored. We would like to see the current green rural views along both sides of the A38 maintained, and both sides of Norton Road/ Brookend Lane (unclassified road) south from St Peter’s Garden Centre to the southern boundary of the proposed development. The developers should be striving to maintain the current rural landscape.”

Malvern Hills District Council’s northern area planning committee will meet at 6pm on Wednesday March 7 at the council chamber in Avenue Road, Malvern. Members of the public are entitled to attend.